Gunmen kidnap group of 20 men in Acapulco

ACAPULCO, Mexico - Gunmen kidnapped 20 men who were traveling together in Mexico's Pacific Coast resort city of Acapulco, authorities said Saturday.

The men were visiting from the western city of Morelia and looking for a place to stay when they were abducted Thursday, said Fernando Monreal, director of state investigative police in Guerrero state.

He said the kidnapping was reported by a man who had been with the group.

The man told police that he and a fellow traveler had left the others to go to a store and that their companions were gone when they returned.

Witnesses said the men - who ranged in age from 17 to 47 - were kidnapped by an armed gang that drove them away in the four cars in which the group had been traveling. Police later found the cars abandoned near the kidnapping site. The motive was unknown.

The man who notified police described his companions as tourists. He said they all worked for the same tire-alignment company in Morelia and saved up each year to take vacations together.

Monreal said police have been unable to locate the man since he reported the kidnapping Friday. The man left a cellphone number but was not answering it, Monreal said.

Acapulco has been a key battleground for lucrative drug-trafficking routes. Police gave no indication that the missing men were tied to drug trafficking.